Gorakada Theater began in 1989 working for children, creating its shows based on classic stories. A mixture of puppets and acting theater that he has transferred to all his works.

This Biscayan company is currently doing a creative residency at TOPIC, outlining all the details of its new work, “Pinocchio”. “Here, in residence, we are creating the text, the image and everything that is the dramaturgical part of the work, in addition to the gestural and acting aesthetics”, says the Company’s Artistic Director, Alex Díaz.

“We are starting from scratch, we are at a time when we call it a “laboratory”, and for that a residence is essential. We come from a dramaturgical idea that we then break, we look for a way to deal with it also acting. It is a process in which the elements are an important part”, Díaz continues.

TOPIC, since its inception, has made available to all companies the possibility of being in residence at its facilities, that is, literally living there while using different rooms of the Center, such as the pre-assembly room or the theater, to create the works. “It is something that we were very clear about from the beginning, 30 years ago when TOPIC was nothing more than a project; We saw that there had to be a space of this type available to the puppeteers so that they would have a place to stay and be able to create at the same time”, says its director, Idoya Otegui.

The language of Gorakada’s “Pinocchio” walks between the acting part and the object part. They conceive the puppet from the object; They are not creators of object theater, but in their shows the object forms an important part. “Pinocchio is still something we are imagining, but it is not going to be a manipulated puppet as such, it is closer to a sculpture that comes to life.”

There will only be two actors and a musician on stage in the play. There is live music, clarinet, and saxophone, and in the residence, they have even created the musical score.

Gorakada had already had his first contact at TOPIC three months ago, a day of work with the scriptwriter and the director. “The ‘Pinocchio’ team is made up of a minimum of twelve people. What we do here in residence is a first structure; A pre-script of scenes and content is made, and we leave the TOPIC with a base structure”. From there, this same week Gorakada will go to another creative residency, in this case to Harrobia (Bilbo) to finish around July 28 and premiere the work on October 18 at the Fair for Children and Youth in Palma de Majorca. In November, as contemplated in the TOPIC residency agreement, they will present “Pinocchio” in Titirijai.